CAJA CERRADA

Nightfishing, a Spanish Cutter off the Costa Brava lures sardines with lights into its nets. It is a gruelling job for the fishermen on board: in wind and rain, wrapped up in waterproofs, they cast out then drag in their nets repeatedly for hours at a time. Thousands of sardines are filled into boxes, then the boxes are piled up high. The floundering of the still living fish, a few shouts and the surging waves are the only sounds to be heard. In the cabin one fisherman tells his stories of sailing the seven seas: of Mauritania and Casablanca, of landing in places where they didn't have harbours, of working for a living in foreign waters. As the sun begins to rise and a new day breaks, the workers succumb to their tiredness, their conversations lessen and seagulls circle overhead. Caja Cerrada is a thoughtful, elementary essay.

"How many borders must we cross to get home" Theo Angelopoulos, The Suspended Step of the Stork